Doctor Who Robot Of Sherwood: 8 Continuity References You Might Have Missed
6. The Sheriff And Tobias Vaughn
While it looks the Series 8 finale will be paying tribute to the 1968 Cyberman story The Invasion in several ways, it would seem that Mark Gatiss got there nine episodes early with Robot Of Sherwoods portrayal of the Sheriff Of Nottingham being uncannily like Tobias Vaughn (Kevin Stoney); a human ally of the Cybermen who assists their invasion of Earth. As well as Stoney and Ben Miller both hamming up their villainous characters for all it's worth, the Sheriff and Vaughn are alike in many ways. Largely that they are both helping the agenda of robotic life-forms in order to rule Earth with alien technology but also that their bargain with the robots leaves them with a cybernetic body. Though the Sheriffs is a necessity since the Robot Knights crashed their ship on top of him while Vaughns new body is a voluntary upgrade. And if we consider the cut scene where the Sheriff is decapitated by Robin Hood; only to reattach his head and treat what would ordinarily be a fatal injury as a mild inconvenience, then the similarities go one step further as this was also the way that Vaughn was revealed to be a cyborg - being shot in the chest several times and giving it little to no consideration. Maybe a robot body is a standard perk in the sell humanity out to robotic species contract.
JG Moore is a writer and filmmaker from the south of England. He also works as an editor and VFX artist, and has a BA in Media Production from the University Of Winchester.
